Marathon bomber's friend to be deported after prison release

BOSTON — A college friend of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (joh-HAHR' tsahr-NEYE'-ehv) has been released from prison and handed over to federal immigration officials, who plan to deport him to his native Kazakhstan (kah-zahk-STAHN').

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Dias Kadyrbayev (DY'-us kah-dur-BY'-ehv) was transferred by the federal Bureau of Prisons to ICE custody in Texas on Wednesday and faces "imminent" deportation.

Kadyrbayev was sentenced to six years in prison in 2015 for removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, after recognizing Tsarnaev in photos released by the FBI days after the 2013 bombing. Prosecutors have said there was no evidence he knew about the bombing in advance.

Three people were killed and more than 260 were injured in the bombing. Tsarnaev is on death row.